Sofia History
Strolling through Sofia reveals a history that only scratches the surface of this ancient city. The mass of dreary, grey Soviet architecture mingles with modern steel and glass structures and 19th century Viennese designs. The town’s origins go back 4,000 years, when it emerged as a Thracian settlement, and its history before the current era includes a brief span of rule under Alexander the Great. Over the centuries, Sofia found itself as part of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires as well as a period of inclusion in the Soviet bloc. Its most recent era has heralded a thrust into modernity, ushering new points in its long timeline.
The city centre is dominated by neoclassical Stalinist architecture and is surrounded by a sprawling periphery of bleak, Socialist-era block housing – a formidable greeting for the first-time visitor. However, a peek through the side streets and centuries-old commercial quarter reveals the true magic of Sofia, a very European city of tree-lined boulevards and balconied buildings by 19th century Russian and Viennese architects.
Standing among a cluster of ancient and neo-Byzantine Orthodox churches, one functioning mosque is virtually all that remains of 500 years of Ottoman domination. However, it is the street life that reveals the real character of the city. Locals meet for coffee at open-air cafés, vast bazaars offer an array of pickles and farm produce, folk musicians serenade the metro users and gypsies sell flowers on street corners while shoppers queue to board the city’s rattling trams.
Origins and empires
Modern-day Sofia was called Serdica by its original Thracian settlers, after the tribe that set camp here. The Serdi were joined by the Odrysi tribe around 500 BC, and in the next century, the city was taken over by Philip of Macedon and Alexander the Great, his son. The Romans conquered the city in AD 29 and renamed it Ulpia Serdica and made it the administrative centre in the region. Ulpia Serdica expanded, with official buildings, garrisoned city walls, public baths and a large amphitheatre being constructed, and the city was referenced in writings by Ptolemy. The city later became a provincial capital and its expansion was marked by grand urban planning and its well-developed social networks. The moderately-sized city was driven with activity, and its growth prompted Constantine the Great to call Ulpia Serdica ‘my Rome’.
In AD 447, under the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I, the Huns breached the fortress walls and levelled Serdica; however, the emperor rebuilt the city and renamed it Triaditsa. In AD 809, the city was absorbed into the First Bulgarian Empire, under the reign of Khan Krum, and it flourished under its Slavic name, Sredets. The Byzantine Empire made several attempts at taking the city, finally succeeding in 1018, but the city bounced back into the hands of the restored Bulgarian Empire. The next few centuries saw Sredets rise in importance due to its success in trade and crafts. In 1376, the city took as its name the Greek word for ‘wisdom’, Sofia, after the city’s church, although the Slavic name was also used until the 16th century. The Ottoman Empire besieged Sofia in 1382, and the city became the capital of the Rumelia province for more than four centuries.
Independence
In 1878, during the Russo-Turkish War, Russian forces freed Sofia. The war paved the way for the autonomous Principality of Bulgaria, and Sofia was crowned its capital, holding that position beyond 1908, at the creation of the Kingdom of Bulgaria.
During WWII, the Bulgarian government sided with the fascists, although Sofia is noted for refusing to turn over Jewish residents to the Nazis. Still, the capital was subjected to heavy Allied bombing, which destroyed much of the historical architecture of the city. The country’s regime was overthrown in 1944 and allied itself with the Soviets as the People's Republic of Bulgaria, an era that saw the construction of the many factories and grey blocks of housing that dominate the city today. With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, Bulgaria began to move forward with economic and modernization plans that saw upgraded infrastructure such as the city’s airport and Metro system.